Darmok (episode)
Picard is captured, then trapped on a planet with an alien captain who speaks a metaphorical language incompatible with the universal translator. They must learn to communicate with each other before the beast of the planet overwhelms them. Summary The ''Enterprise''-D is on a mission to attempt to establish communications between the Federation and the Tamarians after several previous attempts had failed. The Enterprise and the Tamarian vessel made a rendezvous in orbit of El-Adrel IV. The two parties tried to communicate but, like the occassions before, neither party could comprehend what the other party was saying. Captain Dathon disarmed his first officer of a knife-like weapon and suddenly both he and Captain Picard were transported off of their ships to the surface of El-Adrel IV. Immediately after the transport, the Tamarian vessel erected a scattering field in the ionosphere of the planet, preventing either themselves or the Enterprise from using their transporters and blocking communications. However, sensors could still penetrate the scattering field, allowing either party to monitor Picard and Dathon. On the surface of El-Adrel IV, Picard and Dathon once again tried to communicate with Dathon passing one of the two knives to Picard. Picard assumed that Dathon wanted to engage in combat and refused to take his knife. Picard could not understand the terms that Dathon was using and both men became frustrated with their failure. Meanwhile, onboard the Enterprise, Commander Riker ordered Lt. Worf to take a shuttlecraft to the surface of El-Adrel IV to rescue Captain Picard and return to the ship, but as they attempted to go in to the planet's orbit, the Tamarian vessel fired upon the shuttle to disable it, forcing it to return to the Enterprise. Lt. Cmdr. Data and Counselor Troi analysed the log of the communication between themselves and the Tamarians and consulted the ship's computer with the words and names mentioned and found several commonalities. Data and Troi deduced that the Tamarians' language was entirely based on metaphors derived from their own experience and mythology, making their language extremely difficult to understand because without knowing the people or things in the metaphor, the metaphor is impossible to comprehend. Lt. Cmdr. La Forge and Ensign Lefler then attempted to modify the transporters to transport Captain Picard through the dampening field. The following morning, on the planet's surface, Picard and Dathon were still no better or worse off in their attempt to communicate with one another. Picard noticed that Dathon repeatedly used the phrase "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" but he did not understand who or what they were. Dathon was still insistent in giving Picard one of the knives, but again Picard refused. A loud roar was heard in the distance and rocks fell from the cliffs behind the two men and Picard realised that he and Dathon were not alone on the planet's surface. Worf detected a highly localised EM disturbance in fairly close proximity to Picard and Dathon and it was approaching them. La Forge, Lefler and Chief O'Brien were almost ready to attempt to beam Captain Picard back aboard the Enterprise. As the creature approached Picard and Dathon, Picard realised that Dathon was not offering him the knife to fight him but to team up with him against the creature that was approaching them and he took Dathon's knife. Not only did Picard understand Dathon's original offer, he also understood that the Tamarians communicated by metaphor. Dathon uttered a phrase that sounded like he was relieved that Picard had finally understood why the knife was offered. The creature attacked Dathon and Picard wounded it but the creature struck Picard. Meanwhile, the Enterprise attempted to transport Picard while the creature was pummelling Dathon. Picard was furious with being transported just as he and Dathon were beginning to understand each other. The transport failed and Picard was left on the planet as the creature walked away from Dathon. After the Enterprise's failed attempt to transport the Captain, the Tamarians raised the scattering field to a higher level of the planet's ionosphere, making transport impossible, forcing the crew to devise a new way to bring the Captain back to the Enterprise. The Enterprise's sensors showed that Dathon's life signs were fluctuating and they knew that the Tamarians knew that also but surprisingly, no action was taken by the Tamarians. Back on El-Adrel IV, Picard lay down with a dying Dathon and asked him about Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra and found that Darmok and Jalad were two legendary strangers who faced and defeated a common enemy on the island of Tanagra. Picard realised that Dathon already knew that the creature that attacked them was on the planet so that they could re-enact the events between Darmok, Jalad and "the Beast" at Tanagra. Dathon's hope was that by facing a common enemy the two sides could understand one another. Picard now understood exactly how the Tamarians communicated and now Dathon wanted to hear a story from Picard. Picard recites a story from Earth, very similar to that of Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra, about Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk. Dathon appears impressed and amused by Picard's story. Sadly, Dathon dies during the night but not in vain as he has become the first Tamarian to successfully establish communications between his people and the Federation. Back on the Enterprise, La Forge and his staff have developed a way to disable the Tamarians' scattering field - by firing a highly focused single phaser beam from the front torpedo bay at the generator on the Tamarian vessel. Cmdr. Riker gave the order to fire on the Tamarian vessel. The shot disabled the generator, removing the dampening field from El-Adrel, allowing Chief O'Brien to beam Captain Picard aboard (just as the creature was to attack him). The Tamarians returned fire, severely damaging the Enterprise. As Picard returned to the bridge he ordered hailing frequencies to be opened with the Tamarian vessel. The Tamarians replied angrily but they quickly calmed down when they found that Captain Picard could communicate with them using the same metaphors that they use. He explained that although the mission was a success as far as establishing communications between the two peoples, Dathon gave his life to do it. The success in establishing communications between the Federation and the Tamarians would now be known as "Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel". Memorable Quotes "Temba, his arms wide!" : - Dathon "That's how you communicate, isn't it? By citing example...by metaphor! Uzani's army...with fists open...." : - Picard "Sukat, his eyes uncovered !!" : - Dathon Background Information *This episode is sometimes used by linguistics teachers to aid in students' understanding of how languages work and evolve. *The quote "Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra" made its way into the famed "Picard Song" by DarkMateria. *In a visual blooper the Enterprise twice fires phasers from its forward torpedo tube. *This is the first episode which introduces a new Captain's uniform-the light blue undershirt with an open red jacket. Links and References Guest Stars *Paul Winfield as Captain Dathon *Richard Allen as Tamarian First Officer *Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien *Ashley Judd as Robin Lefler External Link *Darmok Dictionary References 47; Children of Tama; Darmok; Gallos II; El-Adrel; El-Adrel IV, El-Adrel system, Jalad, Linguistic database; Tanagra the island; Tanagra the drink; Tanagra Family; Shantil III; Kanda IV; Malindi VII; Razna V; Lerishi IV; El-Adrel IV lifeform; Tamarian starship; Tamarian language; Universal translator; ''Magellan''; Silvestri; [[USS Shiku Maru|USS Shiku Maru]]; T'Lani Category:TNG episodes de:Darmok (Episode) nl:Darmok (aflevering)